Tuesday, October 1, 2013

It's been a long break for me, but my family and I have finally settled into our new home. Now, to get back into the swing of things, time to plunge into Inktober! One ink drawing a day for the entire month. Glad to be back!!

Friday, June 28, 2013

Friday, June 14, 2013

Hey, blogger-town. I'm spending more and more time on tumblr these days. How about you folks? Where do you do most of your blogging?

Anyhow, this is a response to a question I got on tumblr. Thought some folks might find it interesting, so I'm reposting it here as well.

What a coincidence this question showed up in my ask box! I had just been discussing this with a fewfriends of mine the other day.
In his book Steal Like an Artist, Austin Kleon
makes a pretty compelling case for being boring. Stay inside and get
your work done! I totally recommend this book to everyone—it is full of
wonderful ideas…that I have stolen.
Keep in mind that the above advice is my ideal—it’s what I’m
striving for, not necessarily what I’m always achieving. But it is
always there to remind me of what my goal is, how I really want to be
spending my time.
As a matter of personal preference, I like to take “me time” when I
am not infringing upon any of my other priority relationships. This
usually means me time is when the rest of my family is asleep. I think
that’s pretty common behavior for most artists. I try not to stay up
late, but rather to get up early
to do art projects. It’s super hard to do, but it feels great to start
my day with a burst of creative energy (rather than end my day with that
burst, and then not be able to fall asleep at 3 am because I’m so
pumped about a comic I’m doing.)
Hope some of these thoughts help. Like Mr. Kleon states in his book,
most of this advice is autobiographical. I’m learning too. Happy
schedule-making to everyone!
(PS, you should know that answering tumblr questions is a planned part of my schedule, and I will eventually get to all of you. My ask box is pretty backed up at the moment, but I have your messages and you have my apologies!)

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Friday, May 24, 2013

My son had his first lesson in heartbreak this week when
his preschool ended. He loved that school, but it couldn’t go on
forever.
It’s an important life lesson to have—after all, everything comes to
an end eventually. As a dad, watching him grow up and learn this lesson
was kind of bittersweet.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

This was in response to a question I got on my tumblr (which you can find here).

What are studios looking for? How can I
get into a good animation school? What should I be studying?

I get a lot of these types of questions
now and again, and I never know how to answer them. I can't be sure
of what studios are looking for, I don't control admissions policies
to schools, and I have little idea what makes for a current and
relevant curriculum. There are a lot of variables in your bid for a
career in animation, and it's kind of impossible to control most of
them. You must be crazy to want this job!

I find it helpful to focus on the
things I can control. Among those things are your study habits and
how you spend your personal time. It's good to work hard and have
goals—without them we would get nowhere. Study hard and make
decisive strides towards achieving your art goals. But in the heat of
that pursuit, don't forget to go out and live your life!

If you spend any amount of time looking
at artists online, you've probably figured out by now that there are
about a million dudes and dudettes in internetville who draw better
than you (I relive this realization daily). Once your have done your
best to rise to their level, the only tool you have to compete with
these crazy talents is your background, your personal character—is
you!

Consider developing your whole self
with the same raw focus and intensity that you develop a particular
skill set. Get focused. Go out, have adventures. Run, jump, skin your
knee, fall in love, root loudly for the away team at a baseball game,
barely escape a crash of stampeding rhinos, live to see another day.
Experience things big and small. Go for a walk. The world is full of
wonders.

I know this advice is not particularly
animation-specific, but maybe that's for the best. At any rate, it is
something I feel strongly about. Animation is great, and there are
few things that I enjoy doing more than drawing and storytelling. But
in order to have stories to tell, first you have to live them.

The Illustrious and Illustrative Sketch Adventure Lifestyle of Anthony Holden. Cartoons, Sketches, Character Designs, Storyboards, Comics, Illustration, Animation, Silly thoughts, Intermittent Posting, and Arbitrary Capitalization by American animation artist, Anthony Holden. Thanks for stopping by and taking a look!All content on this page copyright 2007-2011 Anthony L. Holden. Do not use without permission, except for purposes of review.